Ancient Live Oaks at Old Point Comfort

The oldest things that visitors will see at Old Point Comfort are Live Oak trees, some of which are estimated to be 460 years old, based on growth rings in core samples taken by arborists from Virginia Tech.

A federal survey identified 425 specimens of Quercus virginiana on Old Point Comfort. This is the largest collection of these trees in Virginia that have not been bulldozed to meet the demands of developers. The tree, an evergreen, grows along the Coastal Plain from central Texas to southeast Virginia.

The largest and oldest trees are inside the stone fort, growing around the perimeter of the military installation’s parade ground. The age of the oldest of these trees date back to 1540 AD.

To put this date into perspective, some of the trees were 24 years old when William Shakespeare was born in 1564, the sixth year in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. When Englishmen stepped ashore on April 28, 1607, they saw trees that were 67 years old.

Clusters of these trees around residential structures, along streets, and in open areas around the fort’s moat add greatly to the historical aura of Old Point Comfort.

Old Point Comfort, Virginia

What will be left at Old Pont Comfort, Virginia, when the Army closes Fort Monroe in September 2011? The answer is very simple. It will continue be the single most significant historical site in America.

What the physical appearance of the site will be in the years after the Army leaves remains unsettled. That decision currently rests in the hands of the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority, an 18-member group composed of local and state appointees.

Public suggestions for future use of the site range from maintaining the historically pristine environment of a National Park to full development as a residential and commercial community. Regardless of its physical appearance, one fact cannot be changed.

This piece of real estate, a 570-acre, J-shaped peninsula at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads Harbor, has been the witness ground for more events in the nation’s history, both large and small, that any other single piece of U.S. soil.

Some features, both physical and natural, will continue to exist within some context. These will be living monuments that tie together all that has happened on the site since the afternoon of April 28, 1607, when Englishmen first stepped ashore.

An excellent book giving an overview of Old Point Comfort's history is DEFENDER OF THE CHESAPEAKE, written with an emphasis on the history of the military installation. Many books have been written on individual events occurring at the site. But complete chronicles, covering all of the events that have taken place in and around these structures, would fill the average library.

If a student wishing to become an American history scholar were to spend four years learning all that occurred on this site over the past 400 years, and understood the effect these events had on the course of our history, his or her knowledge of our nation’s growth would be equal to that gained from any course of study at any major university.

Pieces of the story that highlight Old Point Comfort’s history will be told over the coming weeks. Its history is far too vast to even outline in a single setting.

Estleman: A Manual Typewriter Man

I recently took potluck, picked a book off the new-title shelf at the library, and discovered Loren D. Estleman, an author who has won numerous awards for both his westerns, and what his publisher bills as suspense novels. It was enough to be an embarrassment to learn this writer has been in print since 1976, and I’d never taken the opportunity to read any of his works.

Having now read four of Estleman's books, NICOTINE KISS, ANY MAN'S DEATH, EDSEL, and KILL ZONE, it can be said that his main character is the City of Detroit and a cast of denizens who live and work in the city--both good and bad guys. While the backdrop of city and characters stay the same, Estleman uses different storytellers. It is an approach I have not encountered before.

It is from the perspective of Connie Minor, a former newspaper reporter who is struggling through middle age as an ad man, that the story in EDSEL is told. Minor is hired by Ford Motor Company to lead the publicity campaign for the up-coming E-car, but quickly finds himself caught up in ties between an auto executive, union leaders, and the Detroit mob.

The story in NICOTINE KISS, anchored in Detroit, but with regions north of the city included, is told by Amos Walker, a private eye who recognizes the vulnerabilities that come with age as he searches to find a friend who saved his life, learning along the way that some men who work for the US government and carrying a federal badge can be the baddest of the bad guys.

In KILL ZONE, the reader follows the plot with Peter Macklin, a professional hit man who once worked for the Detroit mob, but has become an independent "efficiency consultant." In KILL ZONE, the line between good and bad guy becomes blurry when Macklin “unofficially” works with authorities rescue a tour boat filled with innocents from a gang of pothead "terrorists."

ANY MAN'S DEATH is a who-hired-who-to-kill-whom
puzzler, featuring again Peter Macklin. The plot involves rival parts of the Detroit mob, a rich widow from South America, and the minister of a church who is involved in not-so-saintly activities when away from his pulpit.

Estleman's style of writing is old school. Some reviewers have said he is an heir to Raymond Chandler. The author of 60 novels since his first novel appeared in 1976, the number of awards this Michigan native has received comes close to his book total. A detailed listing of the awards can be found at the Web site, Author Profile.

An excellent interview can be found at January Magazine. The man also does more than write novels. His other endeavors is covered at The Authors.

I found myself comparing Estleman to Lee Child, thinking that this is the way Child might write if he really understood America. While Jack Reacher's comic hero-like actions often prompt me to think, "No way," the actions of Connie Minor, Amos Walker, and Peter Macklin give me pause, followed by the thought, "Yep, that the way it is in this country."

There are those who say the grey area between black and white has grown wider since the World Trade Center incident. It hasn't grown wider, just more apparent. Estleman has understood the breadth of this grey area, and written about for at least a quarter of a century.

Barnes and Noble, Williamsburg, Virginia

One does not have to be a dedicated bibliophile to enjoy a visit to the bookstore at 345 Duke of Gloucester Street, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Located adjacent to the restored area, across Henry Street from Merchants Square, the store offers more than books for the history buff.


It was the home of Casey’s Department Store from its opening in 1929 until it closed over 70 years later in 1999. When the building’s interior was renovated for the bookstore, many of the architectural features of the early 20th century were retained.

To put the building and the department store into historical perspective, the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern opened in September 1932 as the first public exhibition building in the restored area. The entire restored area was formally dedicated in 1934.

The first architectural element that catches the eye after entering the front door of the bookstore is a large open area overhead.

The opening gives the space a two-story height to a ceiling with a design and lightening fixtures reflecting the era of the late twenties. The second floor around the three sides of the open area contains a coffee shop.

The stairway to the second floor and the railing around the three sides of the opening are also reflections of the building’s original interior design.

Lighting in the coffee shop area is a combination of fixtures in the late twenties style and natural light from multi-paned windows set into the mansard roof of the building. The combination of a low ceiling and lighting give the space a feeling of coziness.

The bookstore is a marriage between academia and the business world. Barnes and Noble operates the store as part of its chain. But it is also the official bookstore for the college of William and Mary. The college gets top billing in the building’s exterior signage.

A stroll through the William and Mary section can be a nostalgic reminder of college days. In addition to the array of textbooks needed by students, there is an offering of clothing and assorted items, all with the school logo.

The Barnes and Noble section of the store offers, in addition to the latest from the literary world, an excellent collection of books on Colonial Williamsburg. Visitors wanting to know what the town looked like before the colonial restoration will find books that give a pictorial view of “before and after.”

The coffee shop on the second floor is a full-service Starbucks. For those wanting to visit the second floor, but avoid stairs, there is an elevator near the middle of the store.

It is a great spot to take a break. The surroundings represent an interim era between the historical area and the modern world.